theory & essay
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Why Bernie Sanders Is Blacker Than You
Last week, Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders was parlayin’ with Killer Mike, throwing up what could inevitably be mistaken for gang signs, and going to soul food restaurants in The A like it was just a typical day in the ‘hood and shit. Now, if that’s not a White man trying to assimilate into Blackness, I don’t know…
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The Miseducation is Overrated: A Wakeup Call to my Teenage Self
Sometime last year I went through a gut-wrenching breakup. Not because anybody cheated or invited me to therapy to let me know they were gay in front of 25 cameras and a boom mic or anything. Just a regular ole’ “I think we just broke up and I don’t know how to function without my…
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Guys, Here's Why You Need To Make Your Own Damn Plate At Thanksgiving Dinner
The conversation over whether or not a woman should prepare her man’s plate has become somewhat of a Thanksgiving tradition on social media and I’m dumbfounded as to why or how we even got here. Every time I see it, I’m tempted to log off — mostly because of the people who are so pro-plate.…
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A Case For Why Turkey Is A Trash Meat We Should Never Eat Again
Let’s just cut to the chase: Turkey is wack. It tastes like mashed printer paper and primetime CBS programming. Yet, every year we find the bird back on our tables on Thanksgiving, in the refrigerator on Black Friday, on a sad-ass turkey sandwich on Cyber Monday, and in the trash sometime after that. Before you…
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Babies Aren't Birth Control. Day Care Is Birth Control.
There really is no way to prepare for a baby. Not necessarily the baby itself, but the impending change to your life once you become a parent. It’s one of the few instances in life where you may think you know, but you truly have no idea. See, even though they know, show, and care…
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Maybe You're Single Because You're…Wait, Who Gives A Fuck?
Last week, we published “Maybe You’re Single Because You’re Wack” — a piece from Dustin Seibert articulating possible reasons why some of the more physically attractive and financially fit women in his sphere of influence seemed to be perpetually single. Like the rest of Dustin’s work on VSB, it was a long, verbose, and admittedly entertaining…
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Empire Is Getting That Pepsi Money. Smart. Very Smart.
For all of its faults – sometimes I feel like the writers behind Empire don’t actually realize that the people watching are old enough to know non-sense when we see it – I do happen to think that Empire is one of the “smartest” shows on television for what they are doing for a few…
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What A Difference A Year Makes: On Battling And Beating Depression
If I had moved to New York last fall as intended, you would be surely be referring to me in the past tense today. I wasn’t ready, mentally, financially or emotionally to give up my chill yet scatterbrained and spiraling life in Panama to write and power-walk for a living in the City That Never…
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To My Dearest Bennett College Belles
Over the past week, some simmering tensions have reached a fever pitch, ignited by an article written by an alumna of Bennett College, Aziza Jackson, calling for the end of the brother-sister relationship between Morehouse College and Bennett College because Morehouse sucks. While Ms. Jackson takes out most of her frustrations on her fellow “brothers”…
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Cuffing While Celibate: Narrowing The Starting Lineup
In conjunction with TVOne in support of the show, Born Again Virgin, we’re taking a look at the idea of cuffing while celibate during this “Cuffing Season”. Join us for the ride and check out episodes from the first season along the way, like this one! Watch as Jenna, Kelly, and Tara struggle with love…